Soul Shadows: halfway thoughts

Chapter 6 of Soul Shadows is complete and due to publish this afternoon. I've been encouraged by the positive reviews from young bloggers for the first five chapters, and I'm fairly pleased with this one, which introduces some much needed light relief into the proceedings, as well as the usual smattering of thrills and tension. On the other hand, because the plot's overall direction is largely out of my hands, I'm now nowhere near where I thought I'd be when I began this story. It really has taken on a bizarre kind of life of its own, like some sort of mutant climbing plant infected by gamma rays. I'm trying to coax it towards the top of trellis as originally intended, but instead it's been entwining itself around the hanging baskets, the birdhouse, the garden furniture and is even now sending inquisitive tendrils towards the gazebo. That's not necessarily a bad thing. It might actually look quite attractive draped around the gazebo, it's just not what I expected, and for a tidy-minded gardener-author like me, this can be quite disconcerting. The other point is that, attractive or not, the gazebo almost certainly isn't a satisfactory destination for my plant – or story. So how do I get it back on track? How do I get from the gazebo back to the trellis? The answer is I have no idea. I'm as clueless as the next person. And that is the terrifying and wonderful thing about Fiction Express. All I know is that it's got to happen. It's my job to bring this baby home. To return to metaphor of the river mentioned in my previous post, the story has become a bit of a white-water ride, and I have to say I'm loving every minute of it.